Signs of hope, good news can still be found

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/11/2023 (697 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is so much tragic and terrible news out of Israel and Gaza these days — starting with the horrible terrorist attack on Oct. 7 through to the ongoing bombardment and ground invasion in Gaza. It can make one desperate for any sign of good news, for any sign of hope.

It’s hard to find. But not impossible.

For example, in mid-October Roman Catholic Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, announced he was willing to exchange places with the Israeli and other children being held hostage by Hamas.

As reported by Vatican News, he made the offer in the hope it could “lead to freedom, to bring the children home … There is total willingness on my part.” He was ready, he said, “to try to bring the hostages back, at least some of them.”

The challenge, he noted, was finding a way to present his offer. “At this moment, it’s not possible to talk to Hamas,” he said. A request to Vatican News for an update was not answered by press time.

I hope Pizzaballa doesn’t have to exchange himself for hostages. I hope they are released safely without it. But it’s good news to hear about his brave offer at this challenging time.

I also found good news and hope through The Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, an organization created to build trust, respect, and relationships between Muslim and Jewish women in the U.S.

Started in 2010, the group has chapters across the U.S. like the one in South Barrington, Illinois. At the end of October, a group of Jewish and Muslim women in that city met to take a side — the side of peace.

“Even the word for peace is so similar in our religions,” said one group member, adding “I’m so glad I’m here because it’s a way to continue to have mutual understanding and build bridges, and just be together in a world that is more so tearing folks apart.”

The women acknowledge they don’t always agree, and the war has made things tense. But they are still talking. At a time like this, when people are dividing over the war between Israel and Hamas, its good news to hear about groups like the Sisterhood — they are needed now more than ever.

While some North American universities have become flashpoints in this conflict, one university, Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, is being praised for how it is enabling students to dialogue about the situation.

Immediately following the Hamas attack, the College offered students public forums with scholars on the conflict, led by faculty from Israel, Lebanon and Egypt.

The professors came up with the idea for the forum in the hours after the attack. They reserved a small classroom, assuming maybe 20 people would show up for the first forum. More than 100 did, requiring an overflow room, with an additional 600 watching a video feed. The second forum drew 300 people to Filene Auditorium, with over 5,000 viewers online.

When a student suggested that Hamas’ attack and Israel’s retaliation demanded moral outrage, not academic discussion, one of the professors replied “We can do two things at the same time. We can be morally outraged at brutality. And we can try to understand what leads to it, where it comes from, what explains it, and so on. Those are not mutually exclusive things.”

Dartmouth’s response is also good news, and maybe a model for other colleges and universities at this difficult time.

Some good news closer to home: With antisemitism and Islamophobia rising in Canada today, Mennonite Church Canada decided to issue a statement for its members on those topics.

Noting the war has led to an increase in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim speech and hate crimes, leaders of that denomination called on their members to “resist this rhetoric in their spheres of influence, and to show support for their Jewish and Muslim neighbours in Jesus’ way of love. We also continue to call our congregations and members to pray for a just peace in Israel and Palestine which will allow both Israelis and Palestinians to live in freedom and safety.”

Finally, the situation in Israel and Gaza has left many feeling powerless. But you can do something; you can donate to help those impacted by the conflict.

The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg has an Israel appeal to raise funds to support victims of terror, help rebuild damaged infrastructure, and address the immense levels of trauma caused by the Hamas attack. You can give at www.jewishwinnipeg.org.

And the Government of Canada has announced a $10 million matching fund for Gaza through the Humanitarian Coalition. When they are able to get into Gaza, the funds will be used for things like emergency food, water, shelter, medical care and other needed items. The match ends November 12; you can donate at www.humanitariancoalition.ca or through its members such as Islamic Relief Canada, Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Canadian Lutheran World Relief.

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